Europeans put dampener on cell phone optimism
Consumers in western Europe bought fewer cell phones in the first quarter of 2005 than in the same period last year.
That's according to the analyst company Strategy Analytics, whose latest report shows that the market shrank by 8% to 37 million units.
"The color phone upgrade cycle is coming to an end," said Chris Ambrosio, director of the company's wireless device strategies service. Western European growth is significantly below the global average of 10%."
The slowdown in western European sales represents the region's worst growth figures since 2001.
Ambrosio adds that the second half of the year will remain tough for phone vendors, with operators demanding feature-rich handsets costing just €150 to kick-start the 3G sector.
The top three phone builders "“ Nokia, Motorola and Samsung "“ continue to dominate the European market, although Strategy Analytics believes that Korean company LG has doubled its global market share thanks to healthy 3G handset sales.
